Shock absorbers include numerous features (such as one-way valves, flow restrictions, inertia valves, etc.) that effect the fluid flow and damping characteristics of the shock absorber, and therefore effect the attitude of the vehicle frame suspended from the shock absorbers. In some fields of endeavor such as automobile racing, it is critical to finely tune the flow characteristics of the shock absorber, and thus the characteristics of the vehicle, on a recurring basis. In some cases, this fine tuning is performed by operating the vehicle on a race track and noting its performance as shock absorbers are changed or modified during a course of testing. However, it is expensive to operate race cars under racing conditions.
To reduce the cost of renting a track and providing a large crew, one alternative is to test the vehicle in a laboratory, such as on a seven-post test rig. On such rigs, it is not necessary to drive the car and operate the engine, and the movement of the car is simulated by a plurality of hydraulic actuators that apply loads to the vehicle. For example, each wheel can be operated vertically by its own vertical hydraulic actuator. Although rig testing is cheaper than field testing, it is nonetheless expensive to rent time on large, highly instrumented test rigs. Further, it is still necessary to manually change the characteristics of the suspension dampers, either by swapping out the shock absorbers, or by using hands or a hand tool to change an external setting on the shock absorber. This testing method is thereby limited to the range of adjustments in the shock absorbers, and also to the types of adjustments that are in the shock absorbers brought to the test session.
What is needed is a method of testing that improves upon existing methods. The present invention does this in novel and unobvious ways.